Pruning-shears.



No. 893,023. f PATENTED JULY 14, 1908.

` L. SIEVGEL & J. BECKER.'

PRUNING SHEARS. APPLOATION FILED JAN. 29, 190s.

'UNITED STATES' PATENT OFFICE. I

- LORENZ sIEGEL AND IOIIN BECKEROE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS; SAID, BECKER AssIGNoR To sAIn sIEGEL.

PRUNINsHEARs.

Application filed January 29, 1908. Serial No. 413,155.

speeineetien of Letters Patent.

Patented July 14, 190s'.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that we, vLORENZ SIEGEL and JOHN BECKER, citizens of the United States, Aand residing at Chicago, in theV county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Pruning- Shears, of which the following is a complete specification.

This invention relates to improvements in pruning shears and more particularly to prunin shears of that class in which the nife b ade is operated by a rackand pinion.

vHeretofore in devices of this class a great deal of difficulty has been encountered by pieces of bark or chips from the severed ranches falling into the gear teeth and preventing the blade from returning to open position until the obstruction is removed. Furthermore it has sometimes happened that by reason of the exposed condition of the rack and pinion that people have been injured by having their fingers caught in the gear teeth.

The obj ect of this invention is to provide a pruning shears having a rack and pinion o erated blade and so constructed that the anger of chips falling into the ear connection and sto pingthe movemento thebladeis entirely o viated.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a device so constructed that the danger of injury in the gear teeth is prevented.

A further obj ect of the invention is to pro'- vide a very cheap, strong and simple device in which the blade is inclosed in a housing thereby protecting it from wear by reason of foreign matter coming in contact with its bearing surfaces. j

The invention'consists of the matters hereinafter described in the s ecication and more fully pointed out and efined in the appended claims. n'

In the drawings: Fi urel is a fragmentary, side elevation of a evice embodying our invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the blade. Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3 3 of Fig. l.

As shown in said drawings: A indicates the back plate, of'metal or other preferred material, forming the rear wall of the housin for the blade and provided at its upper en vided on its inner side, and a jacent each lateral edge, with a narrow strip of metal, indicated res ectively by a and a2, between which the bllade B closely fits and of a thickness e ual to the thickness of the blade. front p ate C is rigidly en aged on said strips by means of screws c whic pass through sa1d strips and engage in the late A. The plate C` is provided with a ongitudinal slot c therein, at either side of which is an outwardlydirected flange c2 formed by turning the metal outwardly at the sides of the slot. A coiled spring D is'inclosed between said flanges and is-engaged at its lower end to a lug c3 on the bottom of the plate C and at its upper end to a stud or screw c4 engaged in the side of the blade and projecting outwardly through the slot. The strip a2 is cut away centrally to provide an openinginto the side of the housing and the blade B is provided adjacent said opening with gear teeth b aording a rack. The plates A and C are rovided adjacent said o ening with ears c5 between which is ivote on a stud bolt c, a lever or arm E, aving on its inner end a segment gear e adapted to mesh with the rack teeth l). The outer end e of said lever is erein and extends alongside the handle G which is rigidly bolted to the lower end of the plate A between flanges a on said plate. The upper end of said blade is beveled to provide a cutting edge b adjacent the hook a, and slants from its edge adjacent the back of the hook downwardly to its edge adjacent the front of the hook, thereby providing a sliding cut against the branch when the blade is operated.

The Operation is as follows: The spring I) acts to normally hold the blade retracted into thehousing at its lower limit of movement. The hook a is placed over a branch and the lever E- pulled downwardly, thereby causing the gear e to force the blade outwardly and sever the branch. As soon as the power is removed from the lever the spring D retracts the blade to normal positlon, when the operation may be repeated. Owing to the fact that the point of contact between the gear and rack is entirely inclosed in the housing it is obviousl that chips or other obstacles cannot fall between the gear teeth and prevent the retraction of the blade.

Furthermore the side flanges c2 prevent' twigs from entering between the coils of the spring when expanded and thereby obviating a great deal of the annoyance usually accompanying a spring controlled blade.

e claim as our invention:

1. In a device of the class described the combination with a housing having an opening in one side thereof, of a lever pivoted to said housing adjacent to said opening and provided with a segment gear projecting into the housing,- a blade slidably engaged in the housing and provided with a rack thereon adapted to mesh with the gear, the point of contact between said gear and rack being concealed, and a spring lying alongside of the blade and connected with the same and with the housing and adapted to normally hold the blade retracted.

2. In a device of the class described the combination With a housing having an opening in one side thereof, and a slot in the front, 0f an outwardly directed flange at each side of said slot, a blade slidably engaged in said housing, a rack therein adjacent said spring, a lever pivoted at the rear of said housing, a segment gear thereon extending into the housing and meshing with said rack, and a coiled spring between said flanges and engaged at its ends to said blade and housing respectively.

3. In a pruning device the combination with a blade having gear teeth thereon, a

lever having gear teeth on one end adapted to mesh with the gear teeth on said blade, a housing inclosing the point of contact between the teeth on the lever and blade, and aspring carried on the front of said housing and engaged to the housing and blade and acting to normally hold the blade retracted.

4. In a pruning device the combination with a back plate 'having a hook on one end i thereof, of a longitudinally slotted front plate, means spacing said plates apart and affording an opening through one edge of the device, a blade slidably engaged between said plates and having a stud thereon proi LORENZ SIEGEL. JOHN BECKER.

Witnesses:

RoBT. KLoTz, H. R. WEIGLE. 

